Virtual Assistants (VA's) – My Personal Journey as a V.A.

Week 45 – Comfort zones should Suck

Zerena is my neighbour’s cat that loves my house during winter and moves in lock, stock and barrel! During the warm months she can be found outside in a gutter sunning herself or in a flower pot (yes, the flowers get a bit squashed) or on a roof. Sometimes she sits mindlessly watching a branch move and entertains herself for hours. Yes, you guessed it! Zerena is really comfortable! Oh, did I mention she has her own house as well? Her routine doesn’t change. She likes to come in after supper and jumps onto my lap and if I am knitting or crocheting she plays with the wool, tires herself out and falls fast asleep. In the mornings, she goes outside and does what she does. Every day is a new day for her, but it never changes.

Albert Einstein said that the definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Don’t you think that if we are honest, we will admit to being guilty of this? So, how do we propel ourselves out of our comfort zones? This question has so much information attached to it but I have come across an interesting article by the Psychology Foundation of Canada and here is the link: http://www.psychologyfoundation.org/pdf/TopOfYourGame/3.pdf. In a nutshell, if we want different results then we need to do things differently. Here are a few things we can do to try to get out of our comfort zones:

Change our routines (see Week 3 of my blog posts)

Try a new activity – maybe an extreme sport or something as simple as doing a puzzle

Speak to a stranger – make those cold calls part of your marketing campaign – although it’s not great, from personal experience, it does get easier over time

Be spontaneous and take action – book for that holiday or phone that friend you’ve been thinking about

Accept that failure is part of growth and don’t allow the fear of failure to block your dreams and desires and ultimately your success

I have listed the tip of the iceberg in the points above and I would like to encourage you to read the article I have highlighted above as it is excellent.

Let’s try to change one thing this week and see if it makes a difference. Please let me know how you did and if there was a different result by leaving a comment in the box below. I would love to hear from you!